Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has said that he does not approve of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the Easter Sunday attacks summoning intelligence officers and disclosing intelligence information to the media. The President also noted that no official of the security forces currently in service will be presented to the PSC and he will accept the responsibility for all of them. He said so far the witnesses summoned to the PSC were officers who were removed from the service.

The President said the Attorney General has informed him that five cases regarding the attacks are being heard in the Supreme Court and appointment of a PSC is detrimental to the ongoing cases. The President further said that he has forwarded the AG’s concern to the Speaker Karu Jayasuriya but expressed regret that the Speaker has not informed parliament in this regard.

Earlier, IGP Pujith Jayasundara testifying at the PSC had stated that the President asked him not to attend the National Security Council meetings. The IGP, who was sent on compulsory leave after attacks, has filed an FR petition challenging the decision.

Former Defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando told the committee that he assumed that the President was informed by intelligence inputs about the attacks. Sri Lankan Government had accepted that there were inputs from India about possible attacks but no measures were taken to prevent it.